Whether or not she returns in 2007, Yolanda Griffith was one of the fittest WNBA players in 2006. Rocky Widner/NBAE/Getty Images

Monarchs
center Yolanda Griffith does not like hearing that she was the oldest player in
the WNBA in 2006, but that is only because she knows she is still in better shape
and capable of performing at a higher level than most of her competitors. Griffith
has pondered retirement, but expect to see her back in the purple again in 2007
and as strong and fit as she has been thanks to her discipline and unquestioned
work ethic.

Q. What's your favorite exercise for lower body? What
results does this exercise help you achieve? "I do the shuttle, having
so many injuries with my knees, sometimes you can't do the weights, so I do the
bands, less resistance, less pounding on your knees, and I do that like two or
three times a week, it helps keep your quads and your muscles strong, Lifting
weights makes you stronger and it keeps you from being more fatigued."

Q.
What's your favorite cardio exercise?"Sometimes, but we have a good
warmup that you really don't need cardio. I do all my running, sometimes before
practice I do like ten minutes of cardio, just to warm my body up."

Q.
How do you work out on your off days during the season?"We don't
really get off days."

Q. What do you do to stay in shape during
the offseason?"I take about two, two and half months off to try and
rest, try and get my body. When I start back up I start slowly, start with cardio,
doing a lot of shooting, a lot of conditioning drills on the court."

Q.
What's your toughest fitness challenge?"Everything that I have to
do, it's not that I hate doing it, at that moment you hate doing it, but you find
the will to do it, you find that when you hit that wall, you've got to knock that
wall down and continue to move on, because there's going to be tougher situations
when you don't want to do something, and if something minor like not wanting to
work out stops you, then you wont be able to. You just have to get your mind ready."

Q.
Is there a fitness accomplishment you're most proud of? "No I don't
really set goals to do certain things, I just work out because it makes me feel
good, because it makes me fit. We do a lot of abs with our conditioning coach,
we do some crazy, off the wall abs, I think we have the best team with the best
abs, well we won't say DeMya because she had a baby."

Q. What advice
would you give to someone who wanted to get into better shape for playing basketball?"Its
small steps, a small process, but you have to be ready and willing to get yourself
fit. You can't start on a Monday and not want to do it on Tuesday, you have to
be consistent with it, and you have to motivate yourself because sometimes it's
all about you, not about what the other individual can do for you its all about
you."

Q. Is there a song or general type of music that you listen
to while you're working out?"I probably listen to R&B, or we
have nice TVs in our practice facility, or just a lot of conversation. Overall
once I set my mind on doing something I do it."

Q. When did you
start working out and when were you in the best shape of your life? "I
would say high school in my junior year, which was when I really started focusing
on what I wanted to pursue in life, and basketball was it. When you are growing
up and your young, you just want to have fun, when you are a freshman and sophomore,
you just want to have fun, but then you have to really think about the next level
the next step, and you don't have much time to play around and try to get better
and get your mind ready, so in my junior year I started focusing on trying to
get better as a basketball player and taking everything I do now seriously."